Iowa schools offering options for health insurance

“Are you covered?”

This is the first question one is asked when entering a hospital. Does the patient have health insurance? Now universities such as Iowa State, University of Northern Iowa and University of Iowa are working to make sure students have health insurance accessible to them.

Although there may be a fierce rivalry between the three schools, they do have their health insurance policies in common. According to both the Iowa and Northern Iowa Web sites, the two have combined forces and joined Student Health Insurance Plan, or SHIP. SHIP is a group policy administered by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa through the University of Iowa Benefits Office.

“This program is nation and worldwide,” said Shelly Matthews-O’Connell, director of the student health clinic administration at Northern Iowa.

Since the program is both national and worldwide, students can easily attend any clinic that is a Blue Cross and Blue Shield provider. The Wellmark Web site states that over half of Iowa’s population is on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield program, meaning it is fairly easy to find a clinic that is their provider.

Not only is it easy to find this specific provider, but they also cover a gamut of procedures and visits, said Richard Saunders, senior associate director of human resources at Iowa.

“It covers lab work, x-rays and allergy treatments, along with hospital admission, ambulance rides, chiropractic care and many others,” Saunders said.

Saunders said an advantage of the insurance is the cost, affordable to most students.

“It’s only $113 per month for the health insurance and an additional $23 per month for the optional dental insurance. Both plans are for a full school year,” he said.

Northern Iowa and Iowa’s health insurance is so inexpensive because the two schools have combined insurance plans, Saunders said.

“The more people, the smaller the rates,” said Saunders. “Our students also helped to design the program, giving us input on the expense portion. They told us what was reasonable for college kids.”

Iowa is taking its insurance plan one step further by beginning to mandate that all incoming freshmen and international students are to be covered by some sort of health insurance plan. If they do not currently have a health insurance plan, Iowa requires them to find one or to use the student health insurance provided.

“We want to protect students so they can go to school without a large [hospital] bill and to keep them from dropping out because of this bill,” Saunders said.

Matthews-O’Connell agreed.

“$113 per month is pretty inexpensive. It will help reduce the out-of-pocket costs for the students,” she said.

Iowa State has chosen to go down a different path than Northern Iowa and Iowa in terms of health insurance providers. The Iowa State University Student and Scholar Health Insurance Plan for 2008-2009 states that their plan is offered through The Chickering Group, an Aetna Company. According to The Chickering Group’s Web site, it has been specializing in student health insurance plans for more than 20 years and is partnered with more than 130 colleges and universities nationwide.

In Iowa, the better-known provider is Midlands Choice. According to the Midlands Choice Web site, it’s a network of more than 20,000 physicians and other licensed health care professionals, 300 hospitals and 1,300 subsidiary health care providers with a core network spanning across Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and other neighboring states.

This insurance plan highlights a few major key coverages and programs including prescription drug coverage, coverage through the summer semester and vision and hearing discount programs. Costs would be nearly the same as the SHIP costs at Iowa and Northern Iowa. The single premium for the entire year is $1,350, approximately $113 per month, for health insurance and $258, approximately $22 per month, as per the Student and Scholar Health Insurance Plan.

Harvey Lapan, professor of economics, said ISU students should consider getting coverage through the university if they do not have prior coverage.

“First, students need to check with their parents to see if they’re already covered,” Lapan said. “If the student finds that he or she is not covered, then it would be great to go through ISU because we have better rates than most other companies. Many other insurance companies assume the worst of students and will higher their rates.”